Not that I've been trading for very long, but it seems like most traders can be put into these 2 categories. What's more important to you? Ticking a super rare beer or just enjoying some really delicious new releases (that may or may not end up becoming whales). I see lots of trades get done for bottles that seem to be past their prime (in my opinion) but that doesn't stop those bottles from pulling really rare new-ish stuff. I'm always worried that if I trade for a bottle that's a couple years old that it's most likely not going to taste as good as it once did. Thoughts?
When I first got into craft beer and trading I definitely just wanted to tick boxes to say I had beers. Now I don’t trade at all. Working out trades has become incredibly stressful and dealing with some people is just not worth it. I also realized what I can get locally is just as good, if not better than what I can trade for. Im lucky to live in an area that I can easily get up to New England and also enjoy the greats from NYC and NJ
Bragging rights seems to make a beer taste better. Does it really taste better? Doesn't really matter some times. So many good beers taste similar. But are ranked way apart. Need to play both side with ticks vs taste.
When I first got into trading, I was genuinely curious about what the rest of the country had to offer. I had the opportunity to try some really fantastic beers from all over that I might not ever see if it weren't for trading. It was like a beer pilgrimage right here on my couch. Now, (as previously mentioned by someone else already) trading has become quite a circus and typically not worth the time and trouble. Last winter I did about 15 trades over the course of two months without incident. Since then, I have had agreements to trade 4 separate times with 4 separate people. All of them fell through because my trading partner either decided to change his mind or simply stopped responding. I digress. Trading should be a system that makes both parties happy. If you're not certain about trading for something, or you're uncomfortable with the idea of it, then it's a good idea to pass. Trading is expensive and if you end up with beers you're not happy with, it can feel like a big waste of time and money. Edit: Hit submit too soon.
I couldn't care less how rare a beer is. That has 0 to do with my enjoyment of it. I evaluate a beer for how it tastes, not how difficult it is to acquire. So to answer your question, taste.
Tasting. A tick is little more than a trick to make you think that you once had access to something which you did not. For instance, while I've had the pleasure of ticking a few rare beers at bottle shares -for which I would gladly have traded- they were never distributed far from the brewery to begin with, and no way am I that well traveled! So in looking at my pocket notebook full of "Ticks", I'm forced to remember where the hell it was I actually ticked the beer at -- and that sort of memory game plays hell with my foggy old-geezer's memory. Gimme the choicest selection of shelf beers any ol' day!
why can't it be a bit of both? i generally drink for taste, but it's fun to track down new beer. if said new beer sucks, i don't drink it again.
Yeah I guess I do it sometimes as well but if the beer has adjuncts in it I feel like it's a shell of what it once was if it gets over a year old (in most cases).
i guess it just depends on your approach. i generally prefer to have two of something so i can see how it changes over time.
I had MD (new) and DBH ( old) this week, and the MD was definitely at tick...... i was very disappointed and the beer in not way, imo, warrants what it trades for. In the other hand, the almost 2yr old DBH was exceptional!!!! Its favors nay have faded but it held its own against others ive had like bvbdl, rare and derivation
For me, ticking comes from just wanting to see what all of the hype is about, and to try the top rated beers in the country so that I have something to benchmark other beers against. I'm not really interested in trading for stuff that already has aged a great deal, because it's a total crapshoot if it'll be worth it or not. (ok, I did trade for a Prop '13, but other than that...)
I am by no means I seasoned cellarer of whales. But I try to acquire bigger beers through releases to trade for more solid beers. I'd rather send out a big beer and get 2 or 3 solid back in a trade than to throw all sorts of my stuff at one bottle. I certainly don't live and die by what BA calls top 250.
I have had much more enjoyment and success in my locals for locals trades than I've had in trying to tick whales. Trading for me is trying to get some beers that I normally wouldn't have access to and trying to provide the same for another BA. If I can tick a whale along the way, so be it, but never been my lone goal when trading. Cheers
Tasted (IMO) like they used Foldgers and Mrs. Buttersworth to add flavor. The nose was a 5 and taste a 3.25. Im glad i didn't trade for it myself.
